Saudi Pro League Week 14: Al Hilal on cloud nine; Ronaldo at the double
Global attention is focused on the Saudi Pro League like never before after its clubs welcomed a host of star-studded new arrivals to the Kingdom over the past nine months. Each week, Al Arabiya English offers a round-up of the key storylines as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Neymar and Co battle it out for the 2023-24 title.
On Matchday 14, Al Hilal appeared refreshed after the FIFA international break – running riot at Al-Hazem – while Al-Nassr’s star recruit Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in a game for the fourth time this season, even as the race for the third place began to intensify.
Al Hilal on cloud nine
Sometimes, there are fairytales in football, while at other times, the form guide doesn’t lie. Sadly for the Saudi Pro League’s bottom side, Al-Hazem, it was the latter this week. League leader Al Hilal easily swept it away in Ar Rass with a ruthless display of finishing, eventually securing a 9-0 win. The demolition was a seventh straight league victory for Jorge Jesus’ side and 12th in a row in all competitions.
Quite ironically, given the final scoreline, Al-Hazem almost took the lead as Al Hilal goalkeeper Bono was forced into action early on, producing an intelligent block. But then Aleksandar Mitrovic set free-scoring Al Hilal on its way, prodding the ball home at the back post after 14 minutes. The 79 minutes that followed were a painful experience for the hosts.
Mohammed Kanno added a second as his speculative long-range effort slipped through the grasp of Aymen Dahmen, and there were also goals for Mohammed al-Qahtani, Mohammed al-Burayk, and Sergej Milinković-Savić.
Saleh Al-Shehri followed up two match-winning displays for Saudi Arabia in the FIFA international break with another strike, but the real hero for Al Hilal was Malcom. The Brazilian had been goalless in his previous six Saudi Pro League games, but against Al-Hazem, he bagged his second hat-trick of the season, thanks to three close-range finishes.
Next up for Al Hilal is a match that Saudi Pro League fans have been eagerly awaiting as second-placed Al-Nassr visits the King Fahd International Stadium on Friday.
Ronaldo leads from the front
Another day, another Cristiano Ronaldo goal for Al-Nassr, who remains hot on the heels of Al Hilal. The team is now four points behind the league leader and seven points ahead of third-placed Al-Ahli. Right now, it is a two-horse race on the Saudi Pro League table, with Al-Nassr needing an impressive result from the Riyadh derby, or it could be a runaway triumph for Al-Hilal.
Al-Nassr kept pace, thanks to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Al-Okhdood, inspired by a Ronaldo brace. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United man had scored in Portugal’s Euro 2026 qualifier against Liechtenstein during the international break. He was on target again for his club, with his double strike meaning that he has now reached 15 goals in just 13 league games this season.
Ronaldo’s intervention was a late one, settling nerves as Al-Okhdood chased an equalizer to Sami Al-Najei’s opening goal. Al-Najei was well positioned to convert Sultan Al-Ghannam’s pull-back.
Though Al-Nassr dominated possession thereafter, it wasn’t until Ronaldo brought the ball down and smashed a right-foot shot past Brazilian goalkeeper Paulo Vitor that Luiz Castro’s team could relax.
Three minutes later, as Vitor was caught in no-man’s land, 25 yards out of the box, it was Ronaldo who was the quickest to react as he lobbed the ball high into the sky before it dropped inside the goal.
Race for third spot hots up
While Al Hilal and Al-Nassr are streets ahead at the top of the table, the battle for third place could be the most interesting in the Saudi Pro League this season.
Al-Ahli currently occupies the spot but missed the chance to cement its position after spurning several opportunities to Al-Shabab in a goalless draw at home.
That result meant that Al-Ittihad could have gone level on points with their Jeddah rival, but the reigning champions could only manage a 1-1 draw away to Al-Ettifaq – another team with its eyes on the third place.
Gigi Wijnaldum gave Steven Gerrard’s side the lead with a close-range effort that was initially subjected to a VAR check before Abderrazak Hamdallah grabbed a second-half equalizer with a smart right-foot finish.
Al-Taawoun’s poor recent form continued as the team lost its second successive game. Pericles Chamusca’s side is now winless in five matches after an electric start to the season saw it emerge as an early rival to table-topper Al Hilal.
Al-Taawoun took an early lead, but a red card to Abdulfattah Adam changed the momentum, with Al-Riyadh turning things around as Saleh al-Abbas found the mark before a penalty from Birama Toure in the 10th minute of stoppage time handed the visiting side a surprising win.
Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, Al-Ettifaq, and Al-Taawoun all have winnable fixtures next time out, while Al-Fateh and Al-Fayha may also be among the challengers.
